The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Asteriscus plant, botanically known as Asteriscus maritimus and referred to by the cultivar name Compact Gold Coin.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Billerbeck, Germany. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new compact Asteriscus cultivars.
The new cultivar originated from a self-pollination made by the Inventor in 1993, of the Asteriscus maritimus cultivar Gold Coin, not patented.
The cultivar Compact Gold Coin was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Billerbeck, Germany, in 1993. The selection of this new Asteriscus plant was based on its more compact and less upright plant habit compared to the parent cultivar, Gold Coin. In addition, ray florets of the new Asteriscus are more widely spaced than ray florets of the cultivar Gold Coin and are more tolerant to high temperatures.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Billerbeck, Germany, and Bonsall, Calif., has shown that the unique features of this new Asteriscus are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.